


Don't Go Breaking My Heart

by andlucyy



Category: That was Then This is Now - S. E. Hinton, The Outsiders - All Media Types, The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Gay, Multi, idk - Freeform, kinda soft?, maybe? - Freeform, purly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:20:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25346083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andlucyy/pseuds/andlucyy
Summary: “Yes, I will. I’m a fucking Shepard, I ain’t living past eighteen,” Curly said bitterly.“That’s not true--”“Yes, it is--”“You’re more than your name, Curls. You’re more than what everyone thinks you are.” Pony squeezed Curly’s hands comfortingly. It didn’t help.“That don’t mean that I’m not gonna hurt you still.”
Relationships: Ponyboy Curtis/Curly Shepard
Comments: 9
Kudos: 75
Collections: Take A Gander Down To Tulsa (Purly)





	Don't Go Breaking My Heart

**Author's Note:**

> woo woo this is something! finally wrote for the first time in forever, it might suck but I hope you like it anyway <3

"I missed you." 

Pony’s eyes were brown with a little bit of green. Curly hadn't seen any like them before. They were expressive, there was always a little shine in them when he talked. They weren't as bright as they were before Curly went to reform, but shit had happened since then. They always were the most beautiful eyes Curly had seen in his life. 

"Of course you did."

Pony laughed softly. Curly loved it when he laughed. He seemed free. And Curly loved it when he wasn't putting on a tough act and his walls weren’t raised, because that meant that Curly didn’t have to do that either. He knew Pony wasn’t like that around many. He could list himself, his brother and probably Johnny Cade. 

Curly knew he was no Johnny Cade. It made him wonder why Pony would ever, ever be with him. Why would he go from someone actually worth a little to him? 

Johnny was smarter than most thought, Curly knew that much from when Dallas Winston came around and went on and on about him. He sounded like a genuinely good guy, especially considering the shit hand the world dealt him. Curly couldn’t even make the most of what he had. He was “lazy, arrogant and an asshole” according to his mother, Tim and most people who knew him. Pony seemed to see him in a different, better light. 

Not that Pony and Curly were officially together or anything, they still hadn’t told anyone about they’re little ‘get-togethers’. 

This time, they were at Curly’s house, just lying, limbs tangled, on his bed. No one else was home, and no one was expected for a while. Tim was out, apparently doing a job and Angela was with Sylvia. God knows what either of them was _actually_ doing, but Curly and Pony didn’t care. They’d decided that the Curtis’s was far too risky ever since they were almost walked-in on by Two-Bit Mathews. It was good for Curly because he knew that neither of Pony’s brothers actually liked him. 

There was a short silence. Normally, Curly couldn’t stand silence, yet Pony somehow made it comfortable. There was something about him that made Curly feel different. He felt like being a better person for Ponyboy. He thought of what to say and when to say it because of Ponyboy. He thought about the future and who he’d spend it with because of Ponyboy.

Of course, there was always the imminent dark cloud of Pony going to college and never coming back to Tulsa, but Curly didn’t like to think about it. He didn’t like to think about the fact that, eventually, Pony was going to go somewhere he couldn’t follow, and that was going to hurt him. 

“I really like you, Curls,” Pony said absent-mindedly, playing with a stray lock of Curly’s hair. 

Curly tensed up and frowned slightly. He didn’t know why he got so scared by that. It wasn’t that he didn’t reciprocate the feelings, he maybe liked Pony even more than Pony liked him, it was just… attachment didn’t sit well with Curly, especially when it went both ways. It just meant that when, not if, something bad happened, they’d both get hurt. Curly didn’t want to get hurt, much less hurt the only person he ever maybe-loved in the world. 

“Are you alright?” Pony asked, noticing the change in Curly’s demeanour. 

Curly didn’t reply. He maybe-loved Ponyboy. His dumbass was too late to stop himself from falling. 

“I can’t stay,” Curly finally said. 

Pony furrowed his brow. “What?” 

“I can’t,” he repeated, removing himself from Pony. 

“Why not?”

Curly didn’t stop. He needed to get away before it would hurt too bad to leave. 

“Curly, stop!” 

He froze, turned and saw the confusion and helplessness in Pony’s eyes. Those eyes… Curly exhaled shakily. The initial panic had passed, now he was just feeling plain sad. Pony got off the bed and grasped Curly’s hands, running his thumbs over his knuckles gently. 

“Firstly, this is your house, so you’ve got nowhere else to go; Secondly, what’s wrong?” 

“I…” Curly sighed. “I can’t stay with you.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ll hurt you.” 

Curly, proud as ever, didn’t want to admit that he had a fear of getting hurt as well. 

Pony shook his head. “You’d never.”

“Yes, I will. I’m a fucking Shepard, I ain’t living past eighteen,” Curly said bitterly. 

“That’s not true--”

“Yes, it is--”

“You’re more than your name, Curls. You’re more than what everyone thinks you are.” Pony squeezed Curly’s hands comfortingly. It didn’t help.

“That don’t mean that I’m not gonna hurt you still.”

“I don’t believe that.”

_What about when you go to college?_ “Well then start believing it, cause it’s true,” Curly said, defeated.

Pony frowned. “Why are you scared of hurting me? I can take it.” 

“I’m not scared!”

Pony looked taken aback by Curly’s sudden rise in volume. The expression on his face made Curly want to crawl into a hole and die. 

“I’m sorry,” Curly sighed, “it’s just that… I don’t wanna hurt you. You’ve been through enough. I thought if I ended this quick, it’d be easier for ya, y’know?” 

“Curly, what you just said makes absolutely no sense. Why would you end something so good right at the beginnin’? That is, by far, the stupidest thing you’ve ever said or done, including the time you fell off the telephone pole.” 

Both boys briefly smiled at the memory. Curly broke his arm, which hurt like hell at the time but he could laugh at it, looking back. 

“I just… don’t want to be the one who makes you sad.”

“I--” Pony stammered, looking at Curly wildly, “you’re the main cause of my happiness, you dumbass! You’d become the cause of my sadness if you left!” 

A warm feeling spread through Curly. “I’m the main cause of your happiness?” He asked, uncharacteristically coy. 

“Yes, you dumb fuck,” Pony smiled. He stood slightly on his tip-toes so he could reach Curly’s lips. 

Pony pulled away after a second. “Besides, I wouldn’t mind if you were the one to break my heart.” 

“Me neither.” 


End file.
